Science is assumed to be located in the realm of objectivity. The Hwang Woo-
Suk affair, however, showed that it could also be located within the realm of
social pathology. The essence of Hwang syndrome was a hypnotic condition
collaboratively created by patriotic fever, science, and the media. For scientific
research, the attraction and risk incurred by public passion were too tempting
to avoid. The media amplified the process of collective myth making by reporting
scientific accomplishments truthfully at first, and then moving on to creating
and delivering stories of heroic science and scientists. It was a kind of
patriotism that was close to collective narcissism, which drove a majority of
Korean population to blind faith in the fabricated scientific feats of Hwang. A
survey analyzing the underlying mechanism of this mental chaos shows that
before the Hwang affair broke out, people’s patriotic fervor, science, and the
media formed a robust positive triangular equilibrium. In the process of the
Hwang affair, the public sentiment of giving priority to national interest over
scientific ethics or trustworthiness of the press won widespread sympathy.